NEWS

On Sunday, October 1st, hundreds gathered at the 9/11 First Responders Memorial on the St. George Promenade to dedicate the memorial, which honors the sacrifices made by Staten Island’s First Responders who died as a result of their brave service on—and in the aftermath of—9/11.

BP Oddo and Mayor de Blasio spoke about the importance of getting the names of those we’ve lost inscribed on the memorial. The ceremony featured touching musical performances by Arlette Roxburgh as well as tribute readings.

“I made a promise to the families that 9/11/2016 would be the last anniversary that names of those lost as a result of their work on 9/11 and its aftermath would be absent from the Memorial dedicated to their memory. I am glad these names are finally in their rightful place on the monument,” said BP Oddo. “These are heroes, and these are people who live life the way we should. These are people who were selfless. Now more than ever, in this time of division, we need to remember their stories. Their lives should be remembered, and their stories should be told."

"We will not forget them, and we will not forget their families as they continue to bear the pain that unites us all, remembering what they gave, the good they were, and the example they are still to all of us," de Blasio said.

We thank all those who made the ceremony special, including NYCEDC, FDNY, NYPD, DSNY, Fred Ariemma of Ariemma’s Garden Center, Anthony Campitiello of Alfonso’s Pastry Shoppe, Sal Sottile of Sottile Security International Inc., and the NY Wheel.

​More great news in the fight against litter! On Friday, April 14th, Mayor de Blasio announced the addition of two-person Sanitation crews to address the issue. The crews will manually sweep and collect trash on sidewalks, streets and other public locations. The crews will be deployed across the borough three times a week for 32 weeks a year.

"We are doing everything we can on all fronts to combat litter," said BP Oddo. "This includes enforcement and education, but the bottom line is we must continue to remove it whenever and wherever it appears."

"There's a litter problem that isn't being addressed, and it's going to take some work by our sanitation workers, but we will put funding in the budget to allow that to happen at key sites all around Staten Island," said Mayor de Blasio.

Our office will continue to send our Clean Team out several times a week to tackle particularly dirty or overgrown locations.

​On Wednesday, April 12th, BP Oddo joined Mayor de Blasio at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal in St. George to announce that lower level boarding will be restored. The change comes after BP Oddo wrote to DOT asking for the restoration. He also spoke to the Mayor directly about the issue earlier this year. Adding lower level boarding will improve passenger flow and alleviate some of the challenges commuters face.

“This is a small, but important victory for Staten Island ferry riders,” said BP Oddo. “The ferry is not an amenity, it’s a necessity. Any way we can improve that service is key, especially with the four million tourists that will be riding the ferry next year. I explained the everyday challenges of Staten Islanders to the Mayor, and he was receptive to it. When it comes to the Ferry, the Mayor is a strong ally.”

“Staten Island has always had one of the longest commutes in the city,” noted Mayor de Blasio. “More and more there is a crowding issue getting onto the Ferry. It’s our job to make it better.”

Beginning in September, passengers will start boarding on the lower levels at both terminals. Additional security will be added at the lower level entrances.

​As part of his “City Hall in Your Borough” initiative, Mayor Bill de Blasio and his staff spent the week on Staten Island, making Borough Hall their home base. On Monday, April 10th, BP Oddo joined the Mayor at the 123rd Precinct in Tottenville to announce the expansion of the NYPD’s Neighborhood Policing program to the precinct. While the Mayor noted that the 123rd is already the safest precinct in the city, he also added that the area will further benefit from being part of the program.

“This is part of how we keep people safer. We believe neighborhood policing will bring our community and police closer. Officers bond with community leaders and everyday people. It gets them information that helps them stop crime,” said Mayor de Blasio.

“Staten Islanders want to know their police officers,” noted BP Oddo. “This is an opportunity for them to get to know each other. Police will make even better decisions by knowing the lay of the land and their neighbors. As we know, the epicenter of our opioid crisis is on the South Shore, so making the 123 a Neighborhood Policing Command makes all the sense in the world.”

Neighborhood policing is already underway in the borough’s 120th and 122nd precincts.

​“Thank you; we need more help,” is the message of a short letter drafted by Borough President James S. Oddo and signed by every other elected official on Staten Island to Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio.

The letter, dated January 10, 2017 and addressed to Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio reads in total as follows:

“We sincerely thank you for all you have done to help us fight the opioid epidemic plaguing Staten Island.

“We desperately need more help.

“We are hopeful we can all get in the same room in the near future to figure out how we can do even more.”

Ironically, within hours of sending the letter, the Governor sent out a press release announcing a slew of new proposals in his State of the State to combat this epidemic state wide.

“I certainly welcome the Governor’s new proposals, and look forward to learning more about them,” said Borough President Oddo. “In fact, they are an indication of how important it is to get in the same room to discuss all our efforts and discuss what more can be done. At our December 2, 2016 meeting I hosted at Borough Hall, my colleagues and I agreed that the crisis is so pervasive and serious that we must be working with the highest reaches of the state and city government to solve it. This letter appealing to the Governor and Mayor for their direct engagement with us asks just for that. Does the request reflect a bit of chutzpah on our part? Perhaps. But the cause is that important and the consequences of inaction too serious.”

Besides Borough President Oddo, the bipartisan group of elected officials signing onto the letter was: District Attorney Michael McMahon, Congressman Dan Donovan, State Senators Andrew Lanza and Diane Savino, Assembly Members Michael Cusick, Matthew Titone, Nicole Malliotakis, and Ron Castorina, and Council Members Steven Matteo, Joe Borelli, and Debi Rose.

On Sunday evening, Sept. 11, over 700 people gathered at the Postcards Memorial on the St. George Promenade for our annual 9/11 Evening of Remembrance. To mark the 15th anniversary, Borough President James Oddo, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul and Former Borough President James Molinaro – who willed the creation of Postcards – addressed the hundreds of families, friends, community members and visitors who gathered for the solemn ceremony.

Year after year, participants of the ceremony are blown away by the talented performers that help make the ceremony so special. This includes Rev. Mercaldo and his daughter singing “The Prayer” and this year, Lt. Hughie Lynch, FDNY, who performed an original song he wrote in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, “My friends, my brothers.”

Several of our guests commented on how there is no better place to be to remember that day and take in the beams of light across the harbor. We thank the FDNY for their support of this event and for the participation of the Fire Boat and the ringing of the Tribute Bell; We thank Fred Ariemma, Michael Black, the Tottenville High School JROTC, the Staten Island Pipers, the US Coast Guard, the US Army, the NYPD, the EDC, and the Staten Island Yankees for their support; and all of our tribute readers and talented performers for their contributions to this evening’s ceremony.

For those who joined us, thank you for coming. We truly hope it gave you peace.

The Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery, in partnership with Borough President James Oddo, have announced the procurement for new temporary housing for homeowners impacted by Hurricane Sandy who need to relocate while their homes undergo construction.HRO is calling on landlords throughout Sandy-impacted communities to offer available apartments for Build it Back applicants to temporarily rent. All landlords will be reimbursed up to designated rental amounts specified by Build it Back. Assisting families in finding temporary housing with allow the program to continue to accelerate construction as it moves aggressively towards Mayor Bill de Blasio’s goal of having all Sandy homes complete by the end of the year. Landlords interested in helping can call Build it Back at 212-615-8329.“As we move forward towards the Mayor’s goal of completing Build it Back by the end of the year, we are taking unprecedented steps to assist homeowners needing to relocate due to construction,” said Amy Peterson, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery. “Building on the pilot program we launched with the Mayor’s Fund and NYDIS this past year, we will be vastly expanding our resources to help homeowners find temporary apartments and to help them with all aspects of the move-out process. Additionally, we are looking to partner with landlords in the community who can offer temporary leases. As we reflect on our New Year’s resolutions, we are calling on New Yorkers to make a renewed commitment to helping their Sandy-impacted neighbors.”“So much work has gone into the efforts to elevate and reconstruct homes affected by Sandy, and unfortunately the final obstacle in getting many people back home is finding them temporary housing while the work on their homes takes place,” said Borough President James Oddo. “Candidly, from a landlord’s point of view, short term leases are not ideal, but we are asking Staten Islanders who have the space to offer a little cup of kindness and make their vacant apartments available so those affected by Sandy can temporarily move in while their homes are reconstructed or elevated."

At a meeting of the Staten Island Transportation and Traffic Task Force at Borough Hall on June 9, Department of Transportation (DOT) officials informed Borough President James Oddo and Council Members Steve Matteo and Debi Rose that 25% of the additional lane miles to be resurfaced under the Mayor’s recently announced plan to resurface 500 more lane miles citywide (200 additional miles in FY 2016 and 300 in FY 2017) would be paved in Staten Island. This means that 125 extra lane miles will be resurfaced on Staten Island in the next two fiscal years.

In a typical year when the city paves 1,000 lane miles, Staten Island, which consists of 12% of the total lane miles in the city, receives approximately 12% of the resurfacing (or 120 lane miles). As a result of the Mayor’s unprecedented commitment to resurfacing an additional 500 lane miles in the next two years, in FY 2016, which begins July 1, 2015, Staten Island will have 160 lane miles resurfaced, forty more lane miles than in a typical year. In FY 2017, Staten Island will have 205 lane miles resurfaced, eighty five more miles than in a typical year. Taken together, this equals an additional 125 lane miles resurfaced in FY 16 and 17 (in addition to the 240 already slated to be resurfaced) and 25% of the total new lane miles to be resurfaced.

“We asked the Mayor for an unprecedented commitment to road resurfacing to make up for the omissions of the past, and he delivered,” said Borough President Oddo. “Without this commitment, we would have seen about 240 lane miles resurfaced over the next two years; instead, we will see 365 lane miles resurfaced. This means that we will finally start to see progress in our quest for more drivable roads. It’s time to ‘pave, baby, pave.’”

At the meeting, the elected officials also learned that the following major thoroughfares will be resurfaced during nighttime hours in the coming months: Portions of Bay Street, Clove Road, Richmond Road, Victory Blvd, and Hylan Blvd. Bay Street will be the first one done over the summer. These are in addition to previously scheduled and announced nighttime resurfacings of New Dorp Lane, Ocean Terrace, and Arthur Kill Road.